In response to tech conference Tokion‘s lack of women speakers, women bloggers everywhere banded together to create a list of women speakers for any conference, hosted at Personism. The ever-growing list contains hundreds of inspiring women in design, the arts, entrepreneurship, activism, non-profits, business, and everything else that would certainly be an asset for any conference or gathering of minds.

There’s another group of people often missing at these conferences though: young people. Sure, there is noendtoyouthconferences, but look at the big ones like TED or ideaCity – how many of the participants are under 30? IdeaFestival is testing out a “IF Kids” section, which was apparently quite successful in the 2007 festival, but might be a little condescending to young adults who aren’t actually kids but who aren’t quite old enough to blend in with the other adults. And even if those big events were more inclusive socially, many deserving young people won’t be able to afford them. Tickets are upwards of US$500 a piece, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to get them before they sell out. Factor in travel, visas, accommodation, and all other costs and you see a very pricey proposition that turns away many young people from otherwise being the biggest contributors.

What young people need are more opportunities to be represented, more exposure to wider groups of people (and not just their peers). Young people should be taking the stage more often in those big events, they should be the ones being listened to by big minds such as Al Gore or Richard Branson. It’s their voice that should be heard, particularly since all the big chances will be handled by us anyway.

Inspired by Personism’s list, I am now creating:

The List of Youth Speakers and Inspiring Young People to Invite to Your Conference or Event

This list is by no means exhaustive. If you want to be on this list, or know anyone (below 30) who should be here, leave me a comment with their name, country, the field they’re involved in, and a brief description. Please also include a link to a website or webpage about them. It doesn’t have to be their personal/business website – a profile or a news article works too, just as long as it has information (and preferably contact details too) about themselves.

Don’t be afraid to self-promote! So many of us deserve better but are too shy or modest to ask for it. I will scan the list for scammers and spammers though.

You may notice that (at least in the early versions) this list is skewed towards a certain geographical area. This is partly because I’m from that area so I know more people there, but also because people in non-Western countries tend to be underrepresented in big events like these. See the diversity of countries as a good thing – you’ll get a very varied set of backgrounds and opinions, information and knowledge will cross borders, and everyone benefits.

Founder of Omiru: Style for All, a style website dedicated to real style for real people. Style expert featured in Lucky Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Disruptive Innovator at eBay, currently focusing on social commerce projects

Co-established youth advocacy group Australian Teens Advocating Change (ATAC), aimed to promote multiculturalism, the prevention of substance abuse and a positive image of youth in the media through community service announcements and nation wide tours

Program manager of Koori Connect, which engages indigenous young people on a range of cultural activities and events aimed at improving community connection, school retention and providing vocational learning opportunities

26 Responses

Hey Tiara, thanks for the list! I do the IdeaFestival blog. You’re right, IF Kids is brand new, definitely a work in progress.

One thing we’re doing right, I believe, is making the festival affordable. There’s the not inconsequential problem of travel, but the events themselves are largely – though not entirely – free to attend, and I’m quite sure that IF will continue with that philosophy, hoping that youth in particular and a wide range of people in general will choose to come. The policy sets us apart from other “name” conferences.

I’m taking your feed. Thanks again for the list of speakers. I’ll definitely pass it along! All the Best,

[…] online community. The best part is … it’s all 100% free! check them out here: Join Hey Nielsen! The List of Youth Speakers and Inspiring Young Peo… saved by 1 others subjecter707 bookmarked on 01/03/08 | […]

Could you consider putting me on your list? I work in the area of creative education in the youth and young professional industry. Specialising in career development and entrepreneurship empowerment for youth and young professionals.

I have spoken and presented at numerous events and conferences, both in Australia and in other parts of the world.

Hey, great idea for this youth list.. i do have someone in mind.. he is my older brother, just a little over 30 but i don’t think that should be a problem. he is still very youthful. 🙂 He is a trained as a medical doctor having received his degree from the University of Edinburgh. His details are below.

A notable achievement of my brother is introducing the first one to one notebook learning environment in Cempaka Schools throughout Malaysia, exposing kids to technology and its applications in the 21st Century. This program emphasizes on developing creativity and innovation within the student body.

Description: Founder of Omiru: Style for All (www.omiru.com), a style website dedicated to real style for real people. Style expert featured in Lucky Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Disruptive Innovator at eBay, currently focusing on social commerce projects.

Joshua Rayan, founder of Words Wizards — a creative communications agency currently serving clients both in Malaysia and Singapore, looking to expand into Australia and Indonesia. Started from a bold idea born in a bedroom and today has become a branding specialist for many corporates.

Description: She’s a self-made artist who is really great when it comes to artwork, and she comes up with the most surprising observations about art in Malaysia. I’m not sure how good she is as a speaker, but a friend who took her 3-week classes mentions that she’s great.

I would like to nominate Reynato Reodica, hes is a young person who is the executive officer of the Youth Action Policy Association. This is the peak body for all youth workers and young people in NSW Australia. He can be contacted at info@yapa.org.au. He has been involved since he was 14 and now is responsible for the day to day decisions made by all youth services and is a tireless advocate for the rights of young people across NSW and Australia.

Also, if there is an interest in young people speaking on health promotion and sexual health peer education, then I would be happy to go on the list. I am 20 and have been working in sexual health and drug and alcohol health promotion in the field of harm minimisation for 5 years now.

Both Rey and myself are confident speakers and have spoken at international conferences in the past

I’m hardly successful or inspiring.. but thanks anyway babe. Do shoot me an email or Facebook message if you need any help with this endeavour. You seem to be quite the busy bee la.

I’ll try to help you out where I can but I’m super busy myself this year, going to launch our new product at the end of this month, its called ezypzy. Would like to invite you to be one of our first few beta testers if you don’t mind and tell us what you think of it. Will send you the link once its ready for you 😉

It’s just amazing that I found your post and realized how similar your thinking is to mine. Determined to increase the presence of young speakers at conferences, I created the world’s first speakers bureau dedicated to representing speakers under the age of 30. Although adult speakers provide valuable experience, there are many young leaders qualified to be speakers.

NotJustTheFuture Youth Speakers Bureau represents young people and connects them to conferences, schools, and other venues where they can share their ideas and knowledge on things they know most about.

Hi, I nominate Andrew Loh. He’s from Malaysia and is currently studying in Swarthmore College in the USA. His interests are in the fields of Education, Civil Rights, Youth Advocacy, Politics and Democracy. He encourages his peers to find their own challenges and take charge of their education and to make sure what they learn is accurate. He also actively encourages young adults to look elsewhere for educational opportunities and he leads by example. He tries to raise awareness in youth about current affairs, both international and local via his blog at http://andrewlza.blogdrive.com and contributing articles to The Cicak.

how there,
I find important your ideas and many said yet.
I am in CNDH-Burundi organization trying to lead a forum of youth for innovation in the country,where we will try to act for development,social innovations,education,peace building,women and youth empowerment,AIDS campaign.
I want also to be added to that youth list,
yours
GATETE Jean-Yves
CNDH-Burundi

My name is Daniel Lister, I hope you are well. I came across this page through a google search, I am a speaker who is looking for more opportunities to speak, you said dont be afraid to self promote…so here I am self promoting. I am currently doing speaking and workshops with young people in Oxford, London etc although I can work with any age, I am currently arranging workshops with the pupils and teachers at one school in Oxford, anyway heres my details.

NAME: Daniel “Focus”Lister
COUNTRY: England
FIELD: Young People, Motivation, Personal/Business Develpment, Entrepeneurialism
DESCRIPTION: I am 26, I work with all ages but my passion is young people, especially inner-city. I do workshops and speaking. I work with them to set their goals and dream, and show them a way to achieve them. Then I motivte them into believing that they can achieve their dreams!

[…] originally from Malaysia (currently studying in Brisbane) the blog is targeted towards Malaysians, promoting young Malaysians and providing opportunities outside the traditional school system that they can participate […]

My name is Urjana Shrestha. I am from Nepal. I am a Social Entrepreneur. My field of interests are Architecture, Social Entrepreneurship, Youth Development, Environment, Sustainable Development, Fairtrade and Local Community Development.

I am a Director of a Social Enterprise “Fairtrade Crafts from Nepal”. I am working alongwith my sister Srijana Shrestha who is also a Manager of our Enterprise. We were both actively involved in various social activities from the very young age and always believed in social entrepreneurship for the development of the society and in the poverty reduction. As the owners of the enterprise, we are both motivated and committed in creating the employment opportunities to the number of people in Nepal promoting
their traditional talents in the global markets.

Our social enterprise aims in:

-Reducing poverty by creating job opportunities for the local people through the fairtrade crafts business.
-Running profitable business expanding it to the international market.
-The development of SMEs.
-Providing International / Global recognition to the unique and exclusive Crafts from Nepal.

Hope you would consider adding both me and my sister (Urjana Shrestha and Srijana Shrestha) on your list as we are both under 30!

Ashoka’s Youth Venture and Changemakers is partnering with Staples to launch our first global competition to recognize young leaders who are finding new ways to create positive change in their communities.

I consider myself to be a 23 year old social entrepreneur. I am currently a United States Peace Corps Volunteer serving in a small village in Kenya. I along with the community group I am partnered with are building a social enterprise to lift our small village out of poverty. This enterprise is called the KVDC and it essentially acts as a business incubation center that also conducts projects for the public good.

If I am the type of person you are looking for please add me to the list.